What excuses did you give for your obesity?

that i tried and failed so i couldnt loose because i most likely had pcos. I carried it well.i came from a family of big people
i failed before because i did not know what i was doing. And i still most likely have pcos getting tested in may. I will be honest i did carry the weight wel...till i hit 300lbs . Then i just looked like a blob. And yeah a lot of people in my family are overwight, but that also have a lot of health issiues..some of which im starting to get .

Needless to say im over 40lbs down

Wow, this is a thoughtful topic. I think when asked a direct question I would blame it on pregnancy and hypothyroidism. However, in recent years, I have come to realize that neither is truthful.

I'm sure this is rooted deeply in body image formed in my childhood. Men started noticing me "not in a good way" when I was 13. I looked older for my age and was propositioned on a regular basis by men I hardly knew. I remember being completely freaked out when a 30+ stranger walked up and asked me if he could rub sun lotion on me. Then, in my teen years, my Mom had a nasty habit of following up every arguments with threats that I would turn into a *kitten* if I didn't follow her directions. If you call a boy on the phone.....If you wear that outfit.....if you style your hair that way.....It made me think that something I was doing would give people that impressions. If so, I needed to avoid drawing attention to myself.

Anyway, all the nastiness aside, I know these were her issues not mine. I'm all grown up now and we have moved past it. But somewhere deep down, I learned to fear male attention wondering if I'm giving off vibes of being "that" kind of woman. Being overweight, helped me to feel invisible even protected. Even now that I'm in my 50's, if a man makes a innocent remark about "losing weight, you look good", I find I have to fight my inner voice screaming at me to go eat something and stay safe. It is a key derailing trigger with me.

Emotional eating is a common problem for many people. I'm fighting on and have made it to a place where I understand and prepare to combat the triggers. I'm responsible for my obesity because I ate more calories than I burned. No other reason. Its a fact.

"My entire family is fat/overweight, so it's probably genetics. Also my really skinny friend eats a lot of crap and doesn't gain a pound, so that just adds to my theory!"
"I'm not that big" (I was borderline obese)
"I'm muscular!" (I am, but you couldn't see any muscle under all that blubber)
"If years and years of eating disorder haven't done much about my weight, then I can't think of anything else that will help" (actually counting calories helped a lot!)

Other than that, I had a difficult time caring since I was so full of self-loathing, I didn't mind if I died sooner than I would if I ate healthy and exercised a lot and aesthetically, well, I was convinced that no one would like me, ever, so I didn't see the point in becoming more conventionally attractive by losing fat.

Not fitting into large and extra-large women's clothing anymore, though, kind of caused me to have a breakdown and research nutrition et cetera. Good decision.

i blamed my children. (pregnancies)
i "carried it well"
i couldnt afford a gym to workout
busy life made it to hard to workout
tried and failed so many times

Let's see I blamed it on having 3 kids at first (even though I lost all the pregnancies weight immediately after they were born and they are all over 18)

I blamed it on having to take prednisone for my asthma (yea my asthma was made worse because I was fat)

And if those weren't good enough the fall back of I am trying, but I can't lose weight it I must be destined to be fat... no I ate too much and didn't move enough

I blamed it on lack of sleep, I got into a habit of going to bed late and eating crap at night time watching television. I felt this was my time to relax and being tired I had little will power or felt I deserved a treat after a long day.

I've been tracking my weight for 3 years and noticed I dropped weight between Easter and August but piled more weight on from Halloween to Christmas, probably due to lack of exercise with darker nights and spending more time in front of TV eating instead of being outside with my children. I realised I had the ability to get healthier but lacked willpower.

Logging my food intake with MFP for three months now and being more conscious about getting exercise is helping. Weekends are my downfall as well as 'treats' one or two nights a week after a long day. Small changes are helping me and realising what my crutches/invalid excuses were/are.

My excuse was that I looked like an average american male and that normal meant okay. Not everything the crowd does is good, but unfortunately average was a fair statement. I am now below the obese mark and about to get sized out of my new workplace's uniforms for losing too much weight... and I just started there.

I never made excuses. I loved food and didn't exercise. I figured I was on my feet all day that was enough exercise for me. Now that I log everything, I can see why I was fat. I ate way too much. I tell my wife it is her fault. When we met I was 180 lbs and my starting weight here was 274 lbs. It has kind of been our little joke, because she would say it was all of her good cooking. I was a fat man living with a bunch of skinny people. My wife doesn't gain an ounce and neither does anyone of my sons. I am on my way though.